I really havent had to deal with the running amok alot...
the only unexplained time that I can speak of when they ran amok was when I had them walking under a gateway, the one got stuck and they panicked and whiped out my men.... yea thats always fun

but what I usually do is get 2 units of elephants and have them collapse on the enemy from each side, bring my infantry up to their front to keep them disorganized, and then the cavalry flanks. At that point I move them away and wait for a time for them to strike again... The time being if there is 1 unit of mine against multiple enemies and they're getting crushed, might as well try to rout the enemy at the cost of a few good men